GRAND RAPIDS -- The Grand Rapids Griffins' postseason fate has yet to be determined, but they are getting plenty of playoff experience as they head down the final stretch of the regular season.

Especially goaltender Jordan Pearce.

Pearce repeatedly came up with key saves to lift the Griffins to an intense 2-1 shootout victory against the Oklahoma City Barons on Wednesday night before an energetic crowd of 7,125 at Van Andel Arena.

Pearce was at his best near the end overtime. After Francis Pare was whistled for tripping, Pearce made five huge saves on the Barons' ensuing power play, and then got some help from the trio of Cory Emmerton, Doug Janik and Derek Meech, which blocked several shots.

"That was definitely the longest penalty I've ever seen," Pearce said with a smirk. "It felt like they'd go get a play, I'd look up and only 10 seconds are gone. Oh no, here we go, I've got to keep on going.

"We battled hard. We bent, but we didn't break and I got it into the shootout."

Once it went to the shootout, Pearce came through again.

After Oklahoma City's Chris Vandevelde beat him in the first round, Pearce stopped the Barons' next four attempts, while Jamie Johnson and Pare scored to give Grand Rapids a win in the opener of a five-game homestand.

"That first one, they made a good move and a good shot," said Pearce, who finished with 31 saves. "I think it was my ninth shootout this year already, so I knew I had to keep the puck out and give our guys a chance. Luckily, we got a couple goals and it worked out."

No one was more relieved than Pare, who had to watch the overtime flurry from the penalty box.

"Not only was Jordan big for us, but Emmer blocked a couple of shots and Janik had a huge block there to block a goal," Pare said. "Obviously I was worrying a bit, so I wanted to come back during the shootout and come out strong for the boys."

Pare also scored the lone goal in regulation for the Griffins, who continued their run as the hottest team in the American Hockey League with a 7-0-1-0 record in their past eight games.

The win moved Grand Rapids into a fourth-place tie with Lake Erie in the North Division, and two points behind third-place Toronto.

"We've been playing for a playoff spot for the past month almost," Pare said. "It's huge. Every game, we need some points in the bank."

The game had a definite playoff intensity, as Pearce traded saves first with Barons goalie Martin Gerber and then Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, who replaced Gerber after he left the game after getting clobbered during a pileup with 12:18 remaining.

But the Griffins were able to grind out the victory and move eight games above .500 (33-25-2-8) for the first time since the end of the 2008-09 season -- which also was the last time they made the postseason.

"I think this is the best thing for our team," Grand Rapids coach Curt Fraser said. "Play hard like this every night, get into the playoffs and, boy, you're prepared and ready to be a very hard team to play against in the playoffs. Our guys are hitting it right at the right time."

Trailing 1-0, the Griffins tied it with 7:02 left in the second when Pare charged up the middle of the ice, took a pass from Johnson and scored his 62nd career goal and seventh in the past six games. It also moved Pare past Slava Butsayev into sole possession of 10th place on the Griffins' all-time list.

Oklahoma City took a 1-0 lead with 53.9 seconds left in the first on Brad Moran's power-play goal.

But that would be the last goal to beat Pearce, who started his 14th consecutive game.

"It's not like it just happened by accident. This kid has earned it every step of the way," Fraser said. "He's getting better and better. He's doing great things for us in goal."

Griffins notes
• Center Ilari Filppula and defenseman Sergei Kolosov both missed the game with the flu.

• Grand Rapids' Brandon Straub fought Oklahoma City's Andrew Lord with 6:39 left in the first. Neither player was able to land any clean shots before Straub took Lord to the ice.

• Defenseman Derek Meech played in his 293rd Griffins game, tying him with Darryl Bootland for fifth on the franchise's all-time list.